<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>[C] Home in a Kitchen by OneofWebs</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29242788">[C] Home in a Kitchen</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneofWebs/pseuds/OneofWebs'>OneofWebs</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bad Cooking, Cooking, Cooking Lessons, Dating, Established Relationship, F/M, Kissing, Late Night Conversations, Late at Night, Sneaking Out, Training</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:34:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,576</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29242788</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneofWebs/pseuds/OneofWebs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She's always doing such kind things for him, so Levi wants to be able to return the favor. She cooks him meals, so he'll do his best to cook her something. Unfortunately, he's never been much of a chef.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Levi Ackerman/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>[C] Home in a Kitchen</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ourloveisgone/gifts">ourloveisgone</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Never had there been a doubt in Levi’s mind that Jenna was his perfect match, and with that had always come these quaint little visions of one day having a small house somewhere <em>safe</em>. Neither one of them knew much of safety, but that didn’t mean Levi didn’t have an imagination. The thing of it was that she loved to cook, and he loved to clean. There could be no better match up than that, not in his mind, especially when they were both good at their respective duties.</p>
<p>The problem was that Jenna was also good at cleaning. She neither did it to the extreme that Levi did nor liked it as he did, but she was good at it. Fair. Times had come up when she’d helped clear out Levi’s room when he was too busy to get to it himself, or she helped out around the camps and the headquarters. Jenna was just a helper, which Levi liked about her, but he couldn’t help but feel that she worked too hard. When she wasn’t training, she was always doing something helpful.</p>
<p>At least, in his mind, it was too much. He’d seen her doing completely nothing before, but that seemed like such a rarity that he didn’t even bother to count it as reality. Even now, the last he’d seen her, she’d been out in the field training with her maneuvering gear. Levi was proud of her, really. She got better every day. She would get better faster if she saved her energy for it and stopped trying to do everything else, but that was neither here nor there.</p>
<p>Levi was looking to be just as helpful as she could be. On nights when she’d brought him a late night meal or something to get him by, he’d been so grateful to her that it was almost stupid to think about. That one meal could mean so much. It never had to be something elaborate or well-cooked, maybe sometimes even just some bread with butter; it felt like a luxury all the same, and Levi wanted to be able to do the same thing for Jenna. She was always taking care of him, and now that they at least had a short window of reprieve, he would do the same.</p>
<p>With an apron around his waist and a bandanna to keep his hair back, Levi found himself in the kitchen at the side of one of their actual cooks, not someone like Jenna who just popped in every now and again to help out. She was a kinder old woman who had plenty of recipes and tips to pass down, and Levi just had a lot of faith in himself. It wasn’t that he <em>couldn</em><em>’t</em> cook. Learning to cook was almost paramount to learning to stay alive, especially when they were outside the wall.</p>
<p>That, however, didn’t mean Levi was that good at it. He knew how to cook things in the way that he knew how to make them edible, but that didn’t always necessarily mean that they tasted good. Sometimes, it was better to even just overcook something to ensure that it was safe to eat, but that was usually a purposeful choice. Meat wasn’t always easy to come by, but Levi knew well enough how to make sure he wouldn’t get food poisoning from it.</p>
<p>Jenna knew how to <em>cook</em>, though, and so did this woman. Levi was hoping that in the next hour or so, he might be able to pick some of that up so he could present Jenna with a warm, home-cooked meal after her difficult training session.</p>
<p>“We should start with some soup,” said the lady cook, giving Levi a warm, elderly person’s smile. “That’ll be easy enough to start with, but you need some skill to finesse it. Soup’s easy, but not as easy as everyone thinks.”</p>
<p>Levi blinked. “Okay,” was all he really knew what to say. He couldn’t discern if she were telling him that soup was a difficult thing to make or an easy thing to make, especially considering that he had made soup before. It was just usually not <em>good</em> soup. Hot water and all that.</p>
<p>“Get you started up on some veggies. This is for that sweet girl of yours, right?”</p>
<p>Levi’s brow crinkled.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry, I won’t be telling anyone. Sweet thing for you to do for a sweet girl.”</p>
<p>The woman went around and gathered up some vegetables, all of which were placed out in front of Levi. Carrots, squash, peppers, and greens. She followed it up with a few potatoes, some parsnips, and a radish bunch. Then, when she had everything set out for him, she handed him the knife.</p>
<p>“You do know how to cut a veggie, don’t you, sir?”</p>
<p>Levi nodded. “I do. Will we be adding anything else?”</p>
<p>“Stock, sir, but that’s stuff we usually just keep around. Takes a good long time to make, you see, too much time to be serving lunch to your girl.”</p>
<p>Levi huffed, but he nodded. He was to cut the vegetables while she prepared the pot for cooking, and that was just fine with him. Periodically, she would drop a piece of advice his way about how he should do something, whether that be slicing his vegetables or seasoning the soup to how much stock and what type of stock would suit what best. Levi wished he had brought a notepad with him, but he would do the best he could to write it all down later.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One hour later, near exact to the minute, Levi’s soup was as finished as it was going to get. Jenna would be done training soon, so he had to get it into a couple of bowls and go out and meet her. The chef told him that it was best to let soup sit as long as possible, but he did not have time to let it sit for as long as possible. She just sighed and let him do what he needed to do, but she gave him a fond smile. It was <em>cute</em>, she might even say, to see Levi like this. Most knew him to be a bit too stoic.</p>
<p>After Levi had his bowls of soup and his spoons, he thanked the woman and made his way out. She smiled as he left, then took a spoon from the counter to try the soup herself. Once she had a taste, her smile was replaced by a concerned look, but by the time she thought to call Levi back, he was already gone.</p>
<p>Levi hurried out of the kitchen and out of the mess hall all together. Once outside, there were surely people who needed to talk to him; everyone always needed to talk to him, but he kept his eyes on his target. The training ground wasn’t far, and if he timed this just right, he would be right there when Jenna walked out, so he had to hurry. He walked quickly, passing by people and tents and animals. Levi knew the path perfectly, and he followed it as quickly as he could manage without spilling the soup.</p>
<p>Once Levi arrived at his destination, he found a place just off to the side where he could stand and wait. Just a bit too early, but that was perfectly fine, because Jenna would never know the difference. When <em>she </em>walked out of the training grounds some ten minutes later, Levi was, for all intents and purposes, completely on time. He pushed away from where he’d been leaning against a fence, then met her with the best smile he could manage for how honestly tired he was.</p>
<p>“Oh,” Jenna gawked, looking him up and down. He was still inn his apron and bandanna, and she was hot and sweaty. “What’s this?”</p>
<p>“I thought I’d make you lunch. Or—try to,” he amended, shrugging. “You do it for me often enough.”</p>
<p>Jenna smiled then. “That’s— Oh, that’s sweet, Levi. Should we go find somewhere to sit down, then? Or maybe I should get cleaned up first—”</p>
<p>“You look fine,” Levi said quickly. “Just fine, like this. You’re fine.”</p>
<p>Jenna gave him a curt nod. He seemed sincere about it, but like he meant to say that she didn’t actually stink of sweat and look a bit of a mess, but that he really didn’t care. Doing this little lunch thing was more important to him than Jenna looking anywhere near presentable, and that meant enough that Jenna could keep her smile.</p>
<p>Levi led her out until they found a rickety bench with a rickety table to sit down. Levi served them, placing Jenna’s bowl first in front of her before he set his down and then sat across from her. He sat there patiently, looking at Jenna expectantly. They were alone in this area, as given the time, everyone was either still training or filtering into the mess hall for some real food, not whatever drivel Levi had tried to put together. It was about as close to a date as they were ever going to get, given their situation.</p>
<p>“It—smells nice,” Jenna said, looking down at it. Her hesitation was evident, but Levi chalked it up to the fact that she was tired.</p>
<p>She still took her up spoon and leaned in, stirring around the soup. It had at least gotten the chance to be a little thicker than water, though Levi hadn’t been a part of making that happen. He waited patiently while he watched her stir the soup around. He wanted her to try it, to maybe tell him that it was better than he thought it was going to be. She scooped something up—Levi thought it might have been one of the potatoes he’d chunked—and then took the spoon to her lips.</p>
<p>She swallowed the spoonful of soup and put the spoon back in her bowl. She looked between it and Levi, then back down to the soup. Suddenly, she leaned into her hand, covering her mouth with it, and just started to laugh. She had this beautiful little laugh, high pitched and sweet, but still Levi frowned when he heard it. She was laughing <em>at</em> him.</p>
<p>“What’s wrong with it?” He asked, leaning onto his elbows. He wasn’t one for putting his elbows on the table, but there he was, putting his elbows on the table as he tried to gauge Jenna’s reaction.</p>
<p>“It’s just— How did you do it?” She asked, picking up another spoonful of soup. “Oh, Levi, it tastes like <em>nothing</em>.”</p>
<p>Levi tilted his head to the side, brows furrowing. “Nothing? What are you—”</p>
<p>He went in for himself, scooping up a spoonful to try it. He hadn’t tried it before he came out here, which maybe had been a bit of an oversight. He’d waited for ten minutes, but if he had spent that ten minutes testing his soup, maybe he could have fixed something. As it were, Levi had just been too excited to bring it out. <em>Excited</em>. He just wasn’t getting the response that he had hoped for.</p>
<p>When he tried the soup, his found his eyes widening as well. Jenna was entirely right. It did, somehow, taste exactly like nothing. Despite the vegetables and the stock and the different things he’d helped put into it, it tasted like nothing. It was certainly soup, but it was nothing more than that.</p>
<p>At the look on Levi’s face, Jenna’s laughter was renewed. She shook her head with it, shoulders bouncing. She laughed so hard, so <em>truly</em>, that Levi couldn’t help but quirk his own smile at her. This nothing soup hadn’t gotten him what he wanted, but at least Jenna was still happy.</p>
<p>“I can’t believe you tried to make me soup,” she said, still breathless from her laughter. “What a sweet gesture. Thank you, Levi, but really. You could use some pointers.”</p>
<p>“Not usually cooking to impress,” he reminded.</p>
<p>“Aw,” she crooned, resting her hand on her chest. “Trying to impress me?”</p>
<p>Levi shrugged, but she knew that was an affirmative. “I just wanted to do something nice for you. You make food for me all that time. I guess I just lack the gift.”</p>
<p>“Well, we can’t all be good at everything. I thought that much was apparent.” She patted the gear still strapped to her hips.</p>
<p>“But everyone can get better at things, and you are.” Levi frowned. “Maybe I can get better at cooking.”</p>
<p>Suddenly, Jenna’s eyes sparkled. Her laughter stopped, and she rested her hands down on the table, giving Levi the gentlest, most beautiful smile, she could muster. She pushed her glasses up, then leaned forward into her hands, elbows on the table.</p>
<p>“Levi,” she said, very pointedly, “would you like to make some trouble?”</p>
<p>Levi raised an eyebrow. “Trouble isn’t exactly my strong suit, either.”</p>
<p>“It’s not a lot of trouble. Just a little bit. I was thinking, maybe,” she shrugged, looking off to the side with either nervousness or coyness, Levi wasn’t sure, “that we could do a private cooking lesson. Can’t really be private if there’s people in there. Besides us, I mean, so we’d need to sneak—”</p>
<p>“Done.”</p>
<p>Jenna’s grin went wide, the sort of smile that creased her eyes near closed as she began to laugh. She knew Levi would say yes to her proposal but asking and hearing the answer was still just as worth it.</p>
<p>“I appreciate the gesture,” she told him. “Really. It was sweet. Let’s just, well. How do you think this evening sounds? Maybe after everyone’s gone to bed?”</p>
<p>Levi nodded. “We can meet up by the mess hall.”</p>
<p>She laughed again. Levi was always so serious. “Maybe we could just walk there together. We share a room.”</p>
<p>Levi’s face suddenly flushed, and he dropped his forehead into his hand as if he meant to smack himself. Jenna was right, but he was just trying so <em>hard</em> that everything had sort of left him. Jenna understood, and if anything, she thought it was endearing. Levi was <em>so</em> serious about everything, all the time, and something about seeing that seriousness having him make a fool of himself was just funny. She loved it, and she loved more that he did it for only her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After everyone else had gone to sleep and the sun was well down past the horizon, Levi and Jenna left their room and just walked straight to the mess hall. It was strange to be out so late when everything was so quiet, so <em>empty</em>. The world was theirs, so while they walked, their fingers intertwined between them. They didn’t need words, just the brief closeness. It was chilly enough to warrant it, anyway. As they walked, their arms brushed, and their hands stayed between them.</p>
<p>It was a quiet walk, one that took them straight to the mess hall. The <em>trouble</em> came when they had to get into the kitchen, but Jenna knew exactly where they left it. It was under a little pot with a half-dying plant in it. After the door was open, Jenna tucked the key right back there, and then they were inside of the kitchen. Much like the rest of the camp, this late at night made the whole area a little strange, but Levi followed Jenna inside, anyway.</p>
<p>“You seem comfortable,” he said.</p>
<p>Jenna just shrugged, something noncommittal so she didn’t have to admit or not admit that she might have sneaked into the kitchen once or twice before. There was nothing quite like cooking to keep the mind calm and cool.</p>
<p>“Can you start a fire?” She asked. “We’ll try soup again.”</p>
<p>Levi snorted, but he did what she asked. While he went to the large fireplace, Jenna started gathering the things she thought would make for a good soup. Vegetables piled up on the tables in the middle, and then she went to a cabinet stashed in the corner of the kitchen. From there, she pulled out little jars with various labels on them.</p>
<p>“We call these spices,” she said.</p>
<p>“I <em>know</em>,” Levi bit back, and Jenna laughed. “We did use some.”</p>
<p>“I do not believe you.”</p>
<p>Levi quirked a small smile, then stepped away as the fire roared to life. Jenna was sweet, and when they were alone, she practically came to life. She was a source of joy, and one that Levi didn’t want to lose anytime soon.</p>
<p>He met her back at the table, where she was already tying an apron around her waist. Levi had brought his own, which he then put on and came to stand beside her. She had just one knife, which she handed directly over to Levi.</p>
<p>“Let me see your skills, Captain.”</p>
<p>Levi grabbed a carrot, the closets vegetable to him, and began to slice it. Jenna watched in silence, an arm folded across her middle to prop up her other, that she could hold her chin in an inquisitive and curious manner. After a moment, she smiled and stepped behind Levi.</p>
<p>“Let me show you,” she said. “Is that okay?”</p>
<p>Levi nodded and allowed her to take hold of his wrists so she could better place his hands. She curled his fingers, too, and then moved his hand with the knife.</p>
<p>“You want to try and make even cuts,” she said, “or they won’t cook the same. Some of your vegetables were mush and some of them were chunks.”</p>
<p>Levi’s response was a hum. Cooking wasn’t something he did very often, so the intricacies of it were a bit beyond him. He did what Jenna suggested, and when she was happy with it, she gave him a kiss to the side of the face before pulling away. This time, she joined in to help.</p>
<p>She grabbed her own knife and went for another carrot, cutting it in the same manner she had instructed him. Levi watched her movements carefully and did his best to replicate them, one carrot after the other. After they’d each cut about two, Jenna really whipped out her skills. Levi was careful, taking it slow, but Jenna knew how to do this, so she went <em>fast</em>. By the time Levi had made it through the third carrot, she’d nearly cut through double the amount.</p>
<p>“I think that’s enough,” she said. “Potatoes next. Let me show you.”</p>
<p>She grabbed one of the potatoes and batted Levi’s hand when he tried to grab one, too. He was supposed to watch, first; it was his turn to be the student. So, he waited, watching as Jenna showed him the proper way to cube a potato. She explained every step of it, too, making sure that Levi could watch every subtle movement that she made. Once she was finished showing it off, Levi took his own potato and gave it the same amount of care she did.</p>
<p>Just like that, they went through each vegetable. Jenna showed him how to cut radishes, parsnips, and turnips, then showed him how to clean sprigs of rosemary and thyme. While he worked on that, she worked on starting their broth much like the cook had with Levi for lunch. He just finished chopping the vegetables, though he stole a peek at Jenna each time he went to grab the next one. In the light of the fireplace, Jenna looked like a vision. A soft look on her face was perfectly illuminated in the flickering flames, and Levi couldn’t help but smile.</p>
<p>When the broth was ready and the vegetables were cut, Jenna helped to the rest. The vegetable and spices went into the great pot, and then she found a lid from one of the cabinets to stick over it. Just like that, the pot was closed, and the soup bubbled with in. Jenna stepped back to lean against the table while Levi stayed near the fireplace, and it was her turn to look at him in the flickering light. She smiled and reached out for him; when he noticed her hand, he took it and dragged her closer.</p>
<p>“This is fun,” Jenna whispered.</p>
<p>“We can do it more often,” Levi offered. “Cook together, I mean. I think it would be nice.”</p>
<p>“You do? You enjoyed it?” Jenna couldn’t have looked happier if she tried. Levi squeezed her hand.</p>
<p>“Of course. I always enjoy spending time with you.”</p>
<p>Jenna couldn’t contain her giggle, and Levi couldn’t stop himself from pulling her in. She leaned down to meet him in a soft, chaste press of lips, and when she pulled back, she didn’t go very far. She hovered right next to him, still smiling.</p>
<p>“I’m glad,” she whispered, squeezing his hand back.</p>
<p>“What do we do now?”</p>
<p>“We just wait. The soup has to cook. The longer you cook soup—”</p>
<p>“The better it tastes. I got that part.”</p>
<p>Jenna’s grin widened, and she pressed their foreheads together. The soup could cook for as long as they could stand to stay in the kitchen, but from the warmth of the fire and how comfortable they were getting near it, they both expected that to be a good long while, even if that meant taking a nap on the floor, curled up close. Hopefully, for all the effort they’d put into this, the soup would actually taste like something. Somehow, though, Jenna had a feeling Levi just wasn’t cut out for tasty cooking.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    <br/>
    <a href="https://oneofwebs.tumblr.com/">Update Tumblr</a>
    <br/>
    <a href="https://tantumuna.tumblr.com">Personal Tumblr!</a>
    <br/>
    <a href="https://twitter.com/tantumunawrites">My Twitter!</a>
    <br/>
  </p>
</div></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>